Latest Opium Stories

By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Opium production and trafficking
make up a third of Afghanistan's economy, and security issues
and corruption hamper efforts to eradicate the drug, the State
Department said on Wednesday.

By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's illegal drugs trade has topped
$15 billion a year as criminal groups flood the country with
heroin from Afghanistan, a senior official from the national
drugs control agency said on Thursday.

By Ed Cropley DOI TAILANG, Myanmar (Reuters) - The heroin trade is
burgeoning in Myanmar's Golden Triangle, a reality hidden from
the international community by the lies and cunning of the
former Burma's military junta, a top rebel leader said.

By Manny Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - Traffickers have been shifting to the
manufacture of amphetamine-type drugs in Asia as cultivation
and production of heroin drops sharply, a senior United Nations
official said on Monday. Akira Fujino, head of the Bangkok-based U.N.

By Robert Birsel KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan opium cultivation has fallen by 21
percent this year largely because of efforts by the government
to persuade farmers to stop, including a threat to destroy
fields, and low prices, a U.N. narcotics official said.

By Niklas Pollard STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Annual worldwide illegal drug salesare greater than the gross domestic product of 88 percent ofthe countries in the world, the U.N. said on Wednesday. "This is not a small enemy against which we struggle.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The number of people around the worldtaking drugs such as cocaine, heroin and cannabis rose lastyear by about 15 million to 200 million, the United Nationsannual drugs report said on Wednesday.

Papaver somniferum is commonly known as the Opium poppy. This is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are derived. It is the only species of Papaveraceae that is grown on a large scale as an agricultural crop.
P. somniferum has many subspecies and varieties. The colors of their flowers are widely varied. Other physical characteristics vary as well, such as the number and shape of petals, number of seeds, flowers and fruits, the color of the seeds, and the amount of opium...

Papaver setigerum is commonly known as the Poppy of Troy or Dwarf Breadseed Poppy. It is an herbaceous annual plant from the Papaveraceae family. Annual plants survive for just one growing season.
P. Setigerum reaches an average of 8 to 31 inches in height. The stem is erect and the upper leaves are simple and oblong. The lower leaves are deeply lobed and toothed. The flowers at the apex of the stem are star shaped and radial. They are about 4 to 10 centimeters in diameter. The center of...